Election must be held by December

BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman on Wednesday said that the next national election must be held by next December and urged his party members to gear up accordingly.

He warned that his party will not accept any pretext or excuse to delay the people's right to vote.

He came up with the remarks while virtually addressing a joint rally titled "Establishing the Political Rights of the Youth" organised by BNP's three associate bodies--Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal, and Swechchhasebak Dal in front of the BNP's central office at Nayapaltan in the capital.

Tarique Rahman alleged that efforts are underway to delay the national election. "It seems that dilly-dallying over holding the next general election has already started. The future of the election has been trapped in a cycle of so-called minimum and maximum reforms," he said. "We have instances that the previous interim government arranged an election in three months, but this government already took more than 10 months."

BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed who also addressed the rally slammed the interim government saying that they demanded election, not resignation of Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus.

BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas said this government is rotten from top to bottom. "It couldn't complete the reforms in the past nine months and wouldn't manage to complete it in the next nine years."

He called the interim government a colonial one as many in the government are not Bangladeshi. He deplored the fact that some people are involved in the extortion of money, which is tarnishing BNP's reputation though they are not associated with the party.

Thousands of BNP supporters, particularly youths, started gathering around the party's headquarters before noon. They were carrying banners, festoons and party flags.

Some participated in the rally wearing T-shirts and flags on their heads. The whole area reverberated with slogans and cultural songs. A huge presence of party activists, however, brought traffic to a halt in nearby areas.

BNP central leaders and leaders from the youth associate bodies took seats at the stage set up opposite to the BNP central office.

On the other hand, members of the law enforcement agencies were on alert in the area.

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